Keeping the Promise to Dr. Wallace and Dr. Pouissant
That summer of 1974 I began teaching the pre-medical students in the Harvard Health Careers Summer Program (HCSP) how to think about the MCAT. This was the third version of the MCAT that had begun in 1928 as the Moss Test. It was changed in 1946 and 1962 (I believe). This was the version I had taken. It was graded like the SAT. There were several components including Science, Quantitative (Math), Verbal and General Information. Medical schools, at that time, were primarily concerned with the Science and Math subtests. Since I had scored in the 99th percentiles in Science and Math, these topics were what I was going to focus on in the classes.
Prior to the summer program, I compiled an outline and some basic materials for the students. I really had no clear scheme to follow. There still were very poor commercial materials available. So, I started to create a syllabus which I thought was appropriate. Additionally, we had no actual prior tests to model. All I could do is remember what was on the MCAT I had taken a few years previously. Unlike now, there were no passages in either the Science, Math or Verbal. All questions were stand-alone or non-passage questions. This made the test a little easier.
That first year, we were placed in a basement classroom in one of the older buildings in Harvard Yard…talk about starting from the ground-floor, or below it. Yet, how could I complain? After all, it was Harvard’s basement. There, I had my first group of students to prepare for the MCAT. I would lecture and go over questions for them. I really cannot remember all of the details. But, I remember the students were very appreciative and must have been satisfied with the course. This had to be the case. I was asked back each year as students had reported back to Dr. Wallace regarding my performance. And even Dr. Wallace started to like me after a couple of years.
Over the years, for whatever reason, my reputation grew as a good or even great preparer of students for the MCAT…I always figured this was because no-one else had wanted to take on the task…no competition. I then taught the summer MCAT prep every summer during my medical school career. By my third year in medical school, I had accumulated a great deal of material and had impressed Dr. Wallace that my promises of teaching the course were not just a desperate mischaracterization, also known as a “lie”, to get a job.
